2007/768/EC: Council Decision of 19 November 2007 on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005
Date: 2007-11-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: TRIPS, World Trade Organisation, developing countries, intellectual property, pharmaceutical product, public health, trade agreement, trade cooperation, trade licence

29.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 311/35

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory)

II

DECISIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 19 November 2007

on the acceptance, on behalf of the European Community, of the Protocol amending the TRIPS
Agreement, done at Geneva on 6 December 2005

(2007/768/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

establishing the European
Having regard to the Treaty
in conjunction
Community, and in particular Article 133(5)
with the first sentence of
the first subparagraph of Article
300(2) and the second subparagraph of Article 300(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the assent of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

On 14 November 2001 at Doha, the Fourth Session of
the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organi-
sation (hereinafter referred to as the WTO) adopted the
Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
(WTO doc. WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2).

Paragraph 6 of that Declaration instructed the Council
for TRIPS to find an expeditious solution to the problem
of the difficulties that WTO Members with insufficient or
no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector
could face in making effective use of compulsory
on Trade-Related
the Agreement
licensing
Aspects of
(hereinafter
Intellectual Property Rights
referred to as the TRIPS Agreement).

under

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

temporary Decision on the

On 30 August 2003, the WTO General Council adopted
a
implementation of
the Declaration on the TRIPS
paragraph 6 of
Agreement and Public Health.

that Decision provides

that
including the waivers granted in it,

that
Paragraph 11 of
Decision,
is to
terminate for each Member on the date on which an
amendment
replacing its
to the TRIPS Agreement
provisions takes effect for that Member.

in order to transform the 30
On 6 December 2005,
August 2003 Decision into an amendment of
the
TRIPS Agreement, the WTO General Council adopted a
Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement and submitted
it to the Members of the WTO for acceptance.

Paragraph 3 of the Protocol provides that the Protocol is
to be open for acceptance by Members until 1 December
2007 or such later date as may be decided by the Minis-
terial Conference.

(7)

The Commission participated,
Community, in the negotiation of the Protocol.

on behalf

of

the

(1) Assent of 24 October 2007 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(8)

the
In accordance with Article 133(5) of
Community is competent
to conclude agreements in
the field of commercial aspects of intellectual property.

the Treaty,

L 311/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.11.2007

(9)

The Protocol
Community.

should be accepted on behalf of

the

Article 2

(10)

In its instrument of acceptance, the Community should
in accordance with Article 300(7) of the
also confirm,
Treaty, that the Protocol will be binding on its Member
States,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement, done at Geneva
on 6 December 2005,
is hereby accepted on behalf of the
Community.

The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision.

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate
the person empowered to deposit the instrument of acceptance
of the Protocol with the Director-General of the WTO.

Article 3

In its instrument of acceptance, the Community shall confirm,
the
in accordance with Article 300(7) of
Protocol will be binding on its Member States.

the Treaty,

that

Done at Brussels, 19 November 2007.

For the Council
The President

L. AMADO